Time Slipping Read Online Free Page A

it know I wasn’t playing.
    “Water, water, everywhere, do not piss me off, beware … if I don’t get my way right now, I’ll take you with me underground.” That was the best I could come up with, but luckily, Water knew what I was trying to say. Bringing up the pure elements of Earth and Water in the Here and Now was the most beautiful thing in the world. But in the Underworld? Not so much — not for me and not for them. This, I found out during my training as well, when Torrie the former demon explained how even the elements themselves actually felt punished having to be present in that horrible place. Not only the elements, but also the trees and the very air everyone breathed in the Underworld was poisoned to some degree, and that was not the type of pain that went by unnoticed. Yay me, getting to live there twice a year! Three cheers for personal sacrifice! My plan after that particular lesson was to never use my elemental badassery while doing my duty as a portal guardian’s companion, but Water didn’t know that, and so my threat worked.
    I sensed The Green coming as it approached from a distance that seemed way too great. When it finally arrived, it hit me like a long lost child greeting a parent and happy to be home. It was the first time I ever imagined this element being almost human-like.
    “Okee dokee, Earth and Water, let’s put this spell to bed.” I swirled my arms around my head and raised my voice, hoping this would be all I needed to finish the job. “Out you go, back into the world, leave the potty place dry and same with the girl!” One last flourish from my hands and that was all it took. The water flew back to the toilets from whence it came, and the humidity in the room was sucked down to nothing as Water claimed all its parts as instructed. I felt the skin of my legs going dry, and only then realized my mistake.

Chapter Three

    MY SHOES MADE SQUISHY, FARTY noises as I left the now dry public restroom, every footstep leaving a wet print behind. I had asked Water to leave the girl dry, but had failed to mention the need to take the water from her clothing. Dammit. Foiled again . I comforted myself with the idea of how I would soon be torturing Sam.
    “Are you okay?” Scrum asked, looking at me funny.
    I looked down at my watch. The friggin thing was working again. I shook my head in frustration. “I will be in just a minute or two.”
    “Are you sure you’re okay? Because I got this weird feeling for like a second and then it went away.” He paused as I walked by him. “Why are your shoes wet? Did you put them in the sink? They don’t look that dirty to me.”
    I stopped short, causing him to almost crash into me. He danced off to the side to avoid taking me down. “Scrum, what on earth makes you think I’d walk into a public restroom and fully submerge my shoes and socks into a sink full of water?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you really like clean shoes. But you’re right, the sink would have been hard being so high up. Did you use the toilet?”
    I couldn’t just walk away. Sometimes I felt like I had to make an investment in him growing some common sense somewhere in that brain of his. Not that it ever worked, but I still felt like I should try.
    “So, if I liked clean shoes, wouldn’t I wait until we arrived at our destination before cleaning them? Or wait until I had a second pair handy to put on, so my feet wouldn’t get wet?”
    He blinked several times in quick succession. “I don’t know.”
    I shook my head and continued on my way. “Hopeless.”
    “I washed my shoes with my feet in them once,” he said, jogging to catch up to me and walk by my side.
    “Oh yeah? Sounds like a poorly executed plan to me.”
    “I was young. At the time it made sense. My shoes were muddy, and I knew my grandma would get really mad at me, and there was this lake near my house, so I just went in.”
    “So, I’m like a young Scrum to you, is that it? That’s the